1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a cleaning apparatus and also to a system including such a cleaning apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
A system has been widespread in which a workpiece is imaged by an optical device such for example as a camera attached to a robot, and the imaged image is analyzed to operate the robot. Using such a system for a long period of time tends to cause the optical device, e.g., the lens of the camera to be stained due to external environment or the like, and therefore it is possible that a clear image cannot be imaged. Consequently, analysis of the image becomes unable to be performed satisfactorily. Hence, it may happen that the robot is frequently stopped so that the operating rate of the system is lowered. Thus, in the prior art, it was necessary for the operator to clean the optical device at regular intervals.
In this regard, a cleaning apparatus for automatically cleaning an optical component is disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2001-075241. In Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2001-075241, a spraying device, a humidifying device, and a wiping device are arranged in the named order along the conveying direction of a conveyor. High-pressure air is sprayed by the spraying device onto an optical component conveyed on the conveyor, subsequently the optical component is humidified by the humidifying device, and finally the optical component is wiped by a wiping member of the wiping device.
However, in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2001-075241, since it is necessary to arrange the spraying device, humidifying device and wiping device along the conveying direction of the conveyor, the space occupied by these devices is increased, and therefore the entire system is excessively large.
The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a cleaning apparatus having an increased operating rate without being excessively large and a system including such a cleaning apparatus.